Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1887-11-16
improvements on the Farm.

The farmer who has g. farm large
enough to require one or more labor
ers should always have plans laid
out for permanent imp ovements,
and thus be able to utilize at all
times the labor he employs; for
whatever line OF farming he may
pursue, theirs will always be seasons
when the workmen will not have
enough to do, and can be set at work
to advantage on some improvement
that perhaps would not pay to en-
ploy labor for the especial purpose
of making 1t, but being done at odd
jobs, when other work is not pressing,
it can be done at comparatively very
small cost. There are on almost ev-
cry small farm rough, unsightly
places, which produce no income, that
could be cleared up when the regular
force OF the farm is not fully occupied
and cost SO little that the farmer
would not feel it then the farm could
be made to produce more income
with but very little perceptible out
lay.
| 1.-THE farm has some portions of it
covered with large, loose rocks, their
removal would be very desirable; yet
if the farmer should hire O. force of
laborers for the express purpose OF re-
moving them, the expense would be
quite burdensome to some farmers,
but when done by labor that would
otherwise be comparatively idle, the
Improvement is made without having
it's cost felt by the farmer, and is
really a clear gain. The removal of
rocks is really one of the most expen-
sive improvements which the farmer
is called upon to make, unless he
chance to be located where the stone,
after split out, can be sold for build
ing purposes. When this can be done,
it will often pay to hire labor for the
especial purpose of blasting them out;
| but in farming districts it is an excep-
| ton to the rule that there is any sale
| for rocks.
When good land is covered with
bushes and briers, it will usually pay
well to remove them, even If the labor
be hired for that especial purpose; but
| as this is work that can be done at
almost any SEASON, the farmer who
hires help may remove them when
other work is not pressing, thus keep
ing his workmen busy and improving
the looks and increasing the income of
the farm.
The farmer who has low land which
is covered with wood, or that bears
only coarse grass, can make an in
provement that will greatly increase
the products of the farm, providing
the water can be drawn low enough;
and as the work, some portions of it,
can be done at any season of the
year, surplus labor can be expended
in this way to great advantage.
Farmers do not seem to appreciate
the value of their swamp and meadow
lands, and they shrink from the labor
Of digging long lines of bitches and re-
moving large stumps; but by working
at it by odd jobs, the work may be
done without exhausting the farmers
resources very much. In draining low
lands there is almost always value
enough in the muck dug out Of the
bitches to pay the labor of digging,
providing the muck is well dried and
pulverized before using. This being
the case the draining of a meadow is
really no expense; the cost will be in
the removal of the stumps, the level
ing of the soil and seeding the land
down to grass. One acre of swamp
land, well drained and properly lev
eled, and seeded down to grass, will
produce more profit than three acres
Of upland for the same purpose; for
two reasons: LIST, it will not suffer by
the drouth; I'd, the gradual decay of
the vegetable deposit of which the soil
is made, will furnish the crop with
nearly half the plant food it will need
for many years after it is reclaimed;
thus a ton OF hay can be produced on
it by the application of one-half the
manure required to produce the same
amount on high land.
Permanent improvements may be
made on the farm by building roads
and bridges. This work can be done
at any season of the year, even dur
ing the winter months, If there be low
places to fill up. Wherever g. road is
made across a wet place the founda-
ton should be made of rocks; this is
q good way to get rid of the surplus
rocks on a. farm. 1T places them
where they are well out of the way,
and they furnish one Of the best ma
terials for road bed that we have;
when covered six inches in depth
with good gravel, hard, dry road at
all seasons of the year is secured. The
farmer in laying out roads over his
farm should use his best Judgment as
to where they can be built to the best
advantage; he should endeavor to lay
them out so as to reach as near as
possible all portions of his farm, and
yet SO they will interfere as little as
possible with the fields he desires to
plow. 1t is not important that the
roads should De straight, though
straight road is the most desirable
where there are no distractions; but
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